Why “Grow a Garden” Should Be Your New Year’s Resolution (Part 1)

Early in 2018, we asked customers to share why they decided to garden and what happened as a result.

After reviewing hundreds of submissions, our team noticed a trend: Planting a garden often yielded more than fresh fruits and vegetables. It also sparked a range of positive changes in the lives of customers.

As we begin a new year — a time when many of us aim to improve ourselves in some way — read the stories below to see what you stand to gain from planting a few seeds. (For a consistent reading experience, we lightly edited quotes to account for spelling and grammatical errors.)

Note: The following testimonials describe individual experiences of Tower Garden customers and do not guarantee results. Your product experience may vary.

Gardening Encourages Smarter Lifestyle Habits

When you grow your own fresh produce, you’re likely to eat more fresh produce. It’s a simple idea, but it can have a profound effect on your life — especially when you consider that one healthy action often prompts another, which prompts yet another, and so on.

Here are a few stories that perfectly illustrate that point.

I find myself being much more conscious of what I put in my body. ... My son, who just turned two, loves watching all the plants grow, too.

I've always wanted to grow a garden, but it is just so hard to do in Texas. Plus, I'm convinced I have a black thumb.

My friend had a Tower Garden and kept telling me how easy it is. She would post these awesome photos of it on social media. I was sold!

I find myself being much more conscious of what I put in my body. Plus, I have a whole new appreciation for all growing things. And it's also great to just walk outside and grab fresh lettuce or a vegetable.

I’ve been looking to get my family into healthier habits and teach them while they are young that what you eat matters. I wanted to provide more nutrition to my family’s life and go green.

My children are excited to learn and try new things. We feel more energetic and love the way the Tower Garden makes our fruits and veggies taste — so much better than the supermarket. My five-year-old loves sweet peppers, and I never knew!

My Tower is thriving, and I'm loving every minute of it.

– Alicia S. from Florida

There’s nothing better than witnessing the excitement on the kids’ faces when they can pull something ripe off the Tower Garden.

I wanted my young children to experience growing their own food. The food we grow on the Tower Garden has so much more flavor. Also, my children are more likely to eat what we grow.

There’s nothing better than witnessing the excitement on the kids’ faces when they can pull something ripe off the Tower Garden. All last summer, they would pluck cherry tomatoes right off the Tower Garden and eat them. We rarely had any for salads because they would snack on them.

When our children first came here from Congo, they were extremely sick and malnourished. They hated vegetables and actually cried when I would make them eat two bites of salad before a meal.

We got our Tower Garden and made it a big deal to let the kids help set it up and choose what we were going to grow in it. Our kids loved it. They were in charge of bringing the harvest inside and started showing excitement in eating the food they had grown.

My favorite moment, however, was this winter when we had the Tower Garden in our homeschool room. I saw my daughter go in there and heard crunching noises. I went around the corner and caught her sneaking Swiss chard and Cherokee red lettuce off the Tower Garden and eating them like candy!

When she turned around and saw she'd been caught (on camera, no less), she just giggled and continued munching on the greens. I almost cried. My baby, who was so malnourished and sick and hated healthy foods, was eating nutrient-dense, organic produce by the fistful.

It was a very proud day for this mama, and I'm eternally grateful to Tower Garden for it.

– Julie M. from Virginia

Gardening Supports Overall Wellness

"Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food." You’ve likely heard this popular quote often attributed to Hippocrates. And though modern medicine certainly has its merits, your body does possess an amazing capacity for healing when given the proper nutrition.

Here are a couple of gardeners who have experienced that truth firsthand.

Eating healthy foods is the centerpiece of our lifestyle change.

Eating healthy foods is the centerpiece of our lifestyle change. My wife and I gave up all processed foods and began a vegetarian lifestyle on December 15, 2015.

We wanted a way to grow produce year-round. We have a huge outside garden and greenhouse but wanted to grow in the house. Having the Tower Garden has provided all the greens we need.

Starting out, we purchased three Tower Gardens and immediately ordered the LED light kits. We love being able to harvest fresh salad greens and herbs right inside our house.

– Gary W. from Illinois

I have two Towers, so I am outside a lot more, getting needed vitamin D to heal.

Suffering from health ailments similar to lymphoma, I wanted to make smart purchases that improved quality of life.

I have two Towers, so I am outside a lot more, getting needed vitamin D to heal. I am watching growth, from seedling to full plant. And I am consuming a lot more broccoli because my son planted about seven broccoli plants.

My children love the sound of the water and love watching the plants grow. I admire the power these Towers hold.

I wanted to make less of a carbon imprint and know how my food was grown.

We complement our shopping with Tower Garden-grown veggies. We spend 90 percent less on lettuce and spinach. The Tower Garden is great for that.

My son only eats veggies from the Tower Garden. He likes to pick off lettuce or eat cucumber.

– Elijah L. from Florida

I needed a time-saver, and I wanted to know for sure where what I was eating was coming from.

I was spending entirely too much time at the grocery store each week hunting down the best prices on organic produce. I needed a time-saver, and I wanted to know for sure where what I was eating was coming from.